Eric Owen Tacker

“Happiness in Wood” (left) is well named: The artwork, created by SMU carpenter Nolberto Salas using boards mostly found in a campus trash bin, took first prize in the 2011 Art of Recycling Contest sponsored by SMU’s Sustainability Committee.

Salas won a Dahon folding bicycle valued at $500.

Eric Owen Tacker took second place and a $50 iTunes gift card for his “Hey Joe!!/Dear God” work. Honorable mentions went to Laura Ries (“For the Love of Grandpa and the World”) and Janis Jessen (“Keep Our Earth and Waters Clean – Be a Friend to a Fish”).

The art contest will be an annual event to help raise awareness about the national RecycleMania competition, running this year through April 2. “Happiness,” along with other recycled material artworks by SMU staffers, will be on display through this week in RFoC @ Lee in Umphrey Lee Center.